Friday we had a great time with apples and the color red. We started by reading the story Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins. The children really responded to the repetitive nature of the story. To teach number recognition and help tell the story I wrote the numbers 1 through 10 on some paper apples. Each time an animal in the story ate an apple I would take away one of the apples I had laid on the floor. These visual aids helped the children understand how the numbers were going in reverse in the story, and kept the interest level high.
I found a poem that went perfectly with our apple theme and reinforced counting skills. The children seemed to like the motions and counting, so we recited it a few times.
Ten Red Apples
Ten red apples grew on a tree. (Hold up ten fingers)
Five for you and five for me. (Hold up five fingers and then five more.)
Help me shake the tree just so, (Pretend to shake a tree.)
And ten red apples down below. (Motion ten fingers going down.)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Next, we used apples to paint. We have a tree in our yard which produces small, gangly apples. They were perfect for this project. I cut the apples in half and then inserted a popsicle stick to serve as a handle. The handle not only made the apples easier to use, but prevented paint from getting everywhere.
The children first painted some folders that I will share more about later this week.
Then they painted the letter “Aa” papers I had printed out from DLTK-Kids. I helped the children trace each upper and lower case “A” and then allowed them to paint them as they wished. These will go in a binder I am keeping for each student. (Similar to the binder I posted about here.)
When they were finished we still had paint and they still had interest. So, I let them have some plain paper and allowed them to paint until they wanted to stop.
Before we ate a snack I read a poem to the children about a surprise hidden in an apple. I made up some motions as I was reciting the poem. Then I showed them an apple I had cut in half horizontally (like in the picture above).
Apple Surprise
Ten shiny apples
Hanging on a tree.
“Whish” went the wind
And they fell on me.
I picked up one
And started to laugh,
When I found a surprise
After I cut it in half.
I served a snack of apple and peanut butter sandwiches to further reinforce the letter concept. To make these healthy and tasty treats simply use two apple slices (Cut the apple into thin horizontal slices.) and spread peanut butter in between. YUM!
